Berliner Boersenzeitung - Electric Kilde fires Olympic broadside with Kitzbuehel victory

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955573
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.109446
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.863061
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.242873
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.281613
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.531328
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.78585
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.501974
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 36.018972
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.862746
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

Electric Kilde fires Olympic broadside with Kitzbuehel victory
Electric Kilde fires Olympic broadside with Kitzbuehel victory

Electric Kilde fires Olympic broadside with Kitzbuehel victory

In-form Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde fired an Olympic broadside when he streaked to a "completely wild" victory in the famed World Cup downhill in Kitzbuehel on Friday.

Text size:

On a course cut slightly short up high because of wind, Kilde clocked 1min 55.92sec to claim 100,000 euros ($113,400) in prize money, part of a 1m-euro pot on offer for three days of racing in the upmarket Austrian resort.

France's Johan Clarey, at 41 the elder statesman of the circuit, claimed second, 0.42sec adrift, while late-running teammate Blaise Giezendanner took a shock third (+0.63) after starting with bib number 43 in the field of 51.

"It's always been a dream for me to win in Kitzbuehel. I haven't been close in downhill before, it's an incredible feeling," said Kilde of his 12th World Cup victory.

The Norwegian, who is one half of alpine skiing's golden couple alongside his girlfriend, US star Mikaela Shiffrin, said he had come far in the last 12 months.

"I looked through my phone this morning and a photo from one year ago popped up and I was standing on my balcony in Innsbruck with crutches, having just had an operation on my knee," he said. "It's quite different now."

Kilde said the timing of his win "couldn't be better, to be honest. I'm just so stoked, so it's good for the Olympics".

Clarey, who bettered his own record as the oldest World Cup podium finisher, admitted to having woken up "stressed out".

"I think I knew I was capable of doing something good, I gave my all," he said, calling Kilde a "monster" on skis.

With the men's downhill at the Beijing Olympics just 16 days away, Kilde upstaged the fancied Swiss duo of Marco Odermatt and Beat Feuz, who won last season's two downhills here.

He also nullified a strong Austrian presence, including Matthias Mayer and Vincent Kriechmayr.

Mayer was nudged off the podium by Giezendanner's late show while Odermatt, who retains his lead in the overall World Cup standings, finished fifth, at 0.78sec.

Kilde truly mastered the 3km-long Streif course, the most prestigious course on the circuit, but also widely regarded as the most testing, down the Hahnenkamm mountain overlooking Kitzbuehel.

Any thoughts of Olympic gold are temporarily put on hold as racers focused completely on the thigh-trembling descent, which made its debut in 1931 and now sees the skiers reach motorway-coasting speeds of 140km/h while negotiating sections that have an 85-percent gradient.

- 'Riding a MotoGP bike' -

Kilde came out on top in best negotiating an icy course that falls, snakes and rolls through a wide variety of terrain, forcing racers to endure centrifugal forces of 3.1G in places.

The 29-year-old Norwegian could even afford an error coming into the penultimate jump so electrifying had his pace higher up the course been.

On a day of racing in which racers were deprived of the normal stomach-churning start that propels them to 100km/h in five seconds, eight racers failed to finish and were left to extract themselves from some of the 15km of nets and fencing ensuring safety down the course.

Covid-19 restrictions meant a maximum of 1,000 spectators this year, a far cry from the 90,000 Kitzbuehel normally welcomes in one of the world's most memorably raucous sporting events.

But one interested participant was local hero Marcel Hirscher, a record eight-time overall World Cup champion who retired in 2019.

He acted as one of the forerunners down the course, to give organisers an idea of conditions and safety.

"I wish I could book this racetrack every weekend because it’s like riding a MotoGP bike on a big circuit," the 32-year-old gushed.

Hirscher was also not surprised by Clarey's second-placed finish, the Frenchman's fourth podium finish in Kitzbuehel from a total of nine in a career stretching back to the 2004 season.

"We all knew he was prepared and it's amazing he's on point today and really good to see him on the podium," Hirscher said.

The Hahnenkamm race week continues with a slalom on Saturday, with heavy snow forecast, and a second downhill on Sunday.

(S.G.Stein--BBZ)